Heart Like a Wheel

In 1956 Schenectady, New York, waitress Shirley Roque marries auto mechanic Jack Muldowney over the mild objections of her singer father Tex, who wants her to be self-sufficient rather than having to rely on a husband. Jack buys a gas station, Shirley becomes a housewife, and they have a son.

For fun, Jack races his hot rod against others on deserted stretches of road late at night. One time, Shirley talks him into letting her drive. She wins and continues winning. A chance encounter with professional driver "Big Daddy" Don Garlits inspires her to look for sponsorship from one of the major car manufacturers, despite her husband's skepticism. As this is the late 1950s, a pretty housewife is not taken seriously, especially since there are no women professional drivers, but when she returns home, Jack tells her that he can build her a dragster.

Résumé

Programmer Jim Collas confirmed that this game was called Heart Like a Wheel and was based on the 1983 movie of the same name. 20th Century Fox had contracted a company called Micro Computer Technologies to create a game to tie in with the movie. Unfortunately the movie didn't do so good and the game was cancelled. Heart Like a Wheel was never completely finished before being cancelled. While the core gameplay is there, the prototype is missing some finishing touches such as correct level progression, the races starting automatically, and more tracks. Although Collas never went on to develop any more VCS games, he had a long and successful career in the computer industry including becoming President of Amiga during Gateway’s ownership of the brand.